Use a marketing calendar template
Owning a small business isn’t easy, especially if you’re running it alone. Between moving produce, taking orders, paying bills, and taking care of family, it’s easy to lose track of everything you need to do. Using a calendar template to organize and manage your marketing strategy will ensure that you don’t lose control with one of the most important parts of your business.
Development of a marketing strategy
First, do your research and identify who your target clientele is and what characteristics they share that make them valuable to you. If you’ve developed software that organizes and manages an online calendar, you probably don’t want to target 14-year-old skaters. But it’s not enough to simply identify an age category or activity that shares your target market—you need to consider socioeconomic status, shopping habits, and upsell potential. I may be in Porsche’s target age group, but I’m definitely not in their target tax bracket!
Second, after you’ve identified who you’ll be targeting, do your research and explore locations for your advertising message. The demographics of your desired customers will play a key role in deciding which venues to search for, so don’t forget about them. Examples of marketing media available to you include newspaper ads, bus stop banners, sports team sponsorships, online marketing (including pay-per-click campaigns and search engine optimization), local television ads, and, if feels more ambitious, the Super Bowl.
Finally, after you’ve identified your desired customers and selected the marketing venues you’ll be looking for, create a marketing calendar. Calendar templates are available online for download and use. A calendar template typically divides time into weeks, providing space each week to record which event or marketing method you’re focusing on; how much money has been and will be spent on the activity; deadlines, contacts and important notes; and what were the results of the marketing ploy. Once you have these three facets in place, you’re ready to invest some real money in promoting your company.
Implementation of a marketing campaign
With your marketing calendar template in hand and wallet in your pocket, you’re ready to invest in the marketing campaign you’ve designed. The nice thing about using a marketing calendar is that it takes what could be the impossible task of keeping track of all your marketing efforts, and breaks it down into chunks of a week. This feature allows you to focus on each marketing activity and the results it produces.
The prospect of launching an online marketing campaign, billboard and bus stop banners, and newspaper ads all at the same time is formidable at best and impossible at worst! Unless you can’t afford to wait an extra week to release them all, try gradually adding them one at a time. The marketing calendar template will help you keep track of what’s happening and where you should focus your attention next.
Evaluation of your campaign
During and after each marketing effort you do each week, fill in the important spaces on your calendar template. When you receive results from that specific campaign (ie more visitors to your site or more customers buying the advertised product, etc.), compare it to other advertising venues or practices you’ve tried. Was it more or less successful? Did it produce the desired result? What was your ROI for this particular campaign? Did it improve your bottom line? Without careful monitoring of each activity and its results, it would be difficult to answer these questions. And if you can’t answer these questions, you’ll never know if you’re wasting money each month or spending enough on advertising that could give you huge ROI.
In addition to constantly evaluating the specific ads and marketing campaigns you run, it will help to systematically re-evaluate your target audience. As your business grows and develops over the years, the products you sell or the services you provide may evolve from one demographic to another. Never get too comfortable with your marketing strategy – be alert to changes in technology and techniques that can benefit you and your business, and take advantage of those resources.
Launching a successful marketing campaign for your small home business can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Properly creating, implementing, and evaluating your marketing strategy may be the last three steps you need to take to break into Porsche’s target demographic.
